Elephants Always Remember
by novelist
Summary: Peter has a problem that only Claire can help with but he's reluctant to let her get too close. Years of built up frustration and shame boil to the surface but Claire is determined to fix their broken relationship.


**A/N:** This is here for my amusement and I have decided to share this little snip-it. I've had some major writers block and kept writing these things I wasn't happy with and was unable to finish anything for a while. Well, this one could really use work and I'm not really satisfied it but at least I got to the ending. I'm not sure if there is a story here or if it'll remain just a oneshot but it's just something that was on my mind. I personally think that the series would have done better if Claire wasn't a Petrelli because Hayden and Milo have amazing chemistry. I liked the idea of Claire and Peter long before I found out she was a Petrelli. I was disappointed. I do think I might write in them finding out they aren't really related after years of thinking they are. I just wanted to see what anyone had to say about this.

Disclaimer: The plots is origional but the characters are borrowed. Rated for adult content.

**Elephants Always Remember  
by C.L. Childs**

Claire Bennet opened her bedroom door in the Petrelli Estate and noiselessly made her way down the hall towards the opposite end. It was a hot night and she was only wearing a white tank top and a pair of black skin tight shorts that covered little more then her underwear underneath. It was a hot night but it wasn't the reason for the perspiration that dotted her tanned skin.

She carefully moved closer to her destination as she slid past both of her half brothers' empty rooms. She felt an electrical current in the air and it felt like her body was filled with nerve endings that were hyper aware. The heat was clearly getting to her. She could hear the grandfather clock ticking away time and the central air rustling curtains in a window nearby. It sounded loud and distant all at once. More importantly, she could hear the voice of Nathan Petrelli, her biological father, behind the door to his bedroom as she passed by it. She moved swiftly, sure of herself, and winced when a board creaked beneath her foot. She moved just as the door opened and watched from the shadows as Nathan swept the hallway with his eyes, his cellphone open in his right hand. After a moment he pushed his phone to his ear and resumed his conversation as he retreated back into his room.

Claire let out her breath, her lungs burning for oxygen. She panted soft and deeply for several beats before she continued to silently move through the rest of the hall. A few steps later she was standing in front of the door at the far end of the hallway and that was when she truly hesitated. If she entered this room, one way or another it would change her forever. She was afraid that it might destroy their relationship but she couldn't keep pretending any longer. She had no choice, it was inevitable so at least this way she was in control of the situation and could get what she came for.

She wiped her sweaty palms on her upper thighs, pulled the hairband from her wrist and deftly tied her long blond hair out of her face. She placed her hand on the door knob, took in a deep breath, and turned the door knob soundlessly. She held her breath as the door swayed open softly. Hearing nothing from inside the room, she stepped over the threshold and into his personal space. On the bed across the room was the prone form of Peter Petrelli. She smiled softly at her hero at first but it faded as she remembered that he was also her uncle. For several moments she stood stalk still in the shadows and let her eyes wash over him. He was nude, the sheet barely concealing him in the dim light coming through the window. She swallowed thickly and started forward.

"I know you're in here." his voice broke the deafening sound of the silence.

Claire's mouth fell open and she stood lifeless in the dark, but he remained unmoving and when a few minutes had passed she began to wonder if she had imagined it.

"What do you want, Claire?" he asked her more firmly then he intended to, his harsh voice sounding rough and unused.

"You heard me coming." She said quickly, lightly panting in anticipation about what was to come.

"I didn't need to hear you to know you were coming. Now why are you in my room," he paused and looked at the glaring red numbers of his alarm clock, "at 2:30 in the morning, no less."

"I need to know." She barely whispered. Moving through the dark and out of the shadows to the foot of his bed.

Peter took in her lack of attire before he raked his eyes up to her face and a vulnerable look passed over his features. For a moment she saw a glimpse of the old Peter but it was quickly replaced by a hard, stoic stare. He looked like a feral animal that was about to be caged and it reminded her of why she was here, what she was fighting for. This wasn't the man who saved her that night in Texas when he became her hero. He was changed, distrustful, distant and over-protective. He still protected her with all he had but the joy had gone out of his eyes and she had to know that she hadn't been the one to cause it, as she suspected she was. No, he wasn't that man who became her hero the night they first met, but he could be with her help.

Claire licked her dry lips but didn't break eye contact, standing her ground. "You know me better then anyone ever has, Peter. If you keep avoiding me, this," she gestured between them with her hands, "you know that I will just go out and try to find another way to fix this on my own. I need to know that I have tried everything." Her voice cracked slightly, tears burning behind her eyes, but she breathed deeply through her nose and waited for him to protest.

Peter closed his eyes tightly before he pushed a hand through his hair and sat up on his elbows. The movement didn't go unnoticed and Claire couldn't help it when her eyes moved down to his stomach just in time to watch the muscles of his abs contracting. He was smooth and well defined, a sheen of sweat glistening on his toned chest.

Claire's breath slipped from her throat when she was caught checking him out. He looked at her so intensely that she could almost feel the heat of his gaze.

"There is nothing you can do." His voice was soft but cold, empty.

She swallowed the fear rising up in her throat, and her voice was strong, but she couldn't keep her hands from shaking. "Whatever changed you, changed us, Peter. I know you can feel the shift between us. That connection has always been there between us from day one, but we ignored it because we were both ashamed and it festered between us. We never just dealt with it and we let it push us away from each other. This is what we were left with, this broken mess of a relationship that is killing us both. Maybe in order to change it, we need to be honest with each other."

He let her words sink into him before he pulled the sheet around his waist and knelt in the center of his bed, staring deep into her eyes. "I keep information from you to protect you." he rasped out to her, his fist tightening around the fabric wrapped around him.

"It's more then that and you know it," she bit out at him, but continued more softly, "You are trying to keep distant from me on purpose cause you think it'll somehow save me and it's destroying you." Moving to the side of his bed and stopping a few feet short of him, Claire's eyes gleamed with unshed tears in the sparse bursts of light that filtered through the sheer curtains.

"It doesn't matter as long as I protect you." he finally broke the eye contact, his voice sounding tired all of a sudden.

"It does matter." She told him softly, her fingertips coming out to barely brush the top of his bare shoulder. He flinched at her touch and she pulled back. His skin was hot to the touch and she knew that it meant that he was barely able to hold back the intense emotions he tried to keep buried inside of him. "I miss you. I miss how we used to be with each other, Peter. You are my best friend and I feel like I'm losing you."

"You aren't losing me."

"Every Time I look at you and see the empty shell of a man you have become, I die a little. Don't you even get it, Peter? You can't sacrifice yourself for me because I can feel myself growing cold inside, uncaring, unfeeling. I'm becoming that woman you are so desperately trying to protect me from being. She is dormant inside me but if you keep doing this to yourself, she won't be for much longer."

"No. I can't ask you for what I need. It will only destroy you. Trust me, it's better this way." his voice was strong, unwavering; while his body language betrayed him and he shifted away from her and shrank down onto the bed, his knees folded out to each side of his body at an awkward angle.

Claire sighed and softly moved to the bed, climbing on it and moving up next to him. She heard him draw in a breath as she neared him. She could feel the heat radiating from him in waves that caused the beads of sweat to collect and slide down her moist skin. "I'm not a girl anymore, Peter, I'm a woman. Somewhere inside of you is a passionate, sensitive, selfless man that can take a leap of faith to save a perfect stranger."

"I'm your uncle and it's not normal." he whimpered out and the air around them became so hot she could feel the sweat sizzling on her skin.

"Nothing about us is normal. It took me a long time to accept that about myself and once I did, I realized that I should embrace that about myself." Claire shifted so close that she was hovering over him, on her knees in front of him. "You need to let someone love you, Peter."

"She died because of me, Claire. Caitlyn is dead because I let her in and loved her too much. I literally set my place on fire while I was..." he trailed off to spare her the details, she knew without needing to hear it again. "I seem to destroy everything, everyone I touch" He cried, his frame trembling, his gaze cast downward. If he looked at her he feared he would break and that would not be a good thing. "I won't let you be destroyed too."

Ignoring the blisters that were forming, she closed the distance between the two of them and pressed herself against him. "You can't destroy me." She rested her cheek against the top of his head and brought her arms around to the back of his head, cradling him. "Don't push me away, let me help you." She pleaded with him, her hazel eyes brimming with tears while her skin began to peel. "Your powers are tied to your emotions and you can't keep bottling them up or you are going to self destruct, Peter. You need someone who is able to take what you have to give and I might be the only person that can do that for you." As her blisters began to open up into wounds, she clenched her teeth at the horrible pain she was feeling and forced him to look up at her.

Peter's skin was red and starting to illuminate their surroundings. "How can you rationalize this, Claire? This is incest. Talk about sacrifices, you are willing to commit incest so I won't go all explosive on the world and kill half of New York!"

"Answer me one question, Peter." Her skin was starting to char and deteriorate.

He knew she was certainly in pain, but this wouldn't kill her. He feared the emotional toll on her would just bring her down along with him and he couldn't bare to be the reason she was a cold and heartless bitch. "Anything." he whispered softly.

"Without all the impending doom, would you still want me?"

"Yes, I would still want you, Claire." he moaned shamefully. And he did break, then, feeling the heat within him lapping at the underside of his skin just waiting to get out. He released a strained sob and his whole body began to shake violently.

"That's what I thought." She whispered hoarsely. When Claire's lips touched him, he closed his eyes in anticipation of the impending explosion and was surprised when it didn't come. He opened his eyes and pulled away. Her skin was beginning to return to normal and she had a smile on her face as she looked down at him.

"What happened, why didn't I just go nuclear?" he asked in utter confusion.

"You took a leap of faith, Peter. I told you that I can help you. I don't know why or how but it seems that my touch heals you. You were meant to be a great hero, but you can't do it alone." Claire's fingers tangled in the hair at the nape of his neck and she pulled his forehead against her own, needing to feel close to him. "Let me love you." she whispered, her eyes locked on his.

"Claire?" her name sounded different on his tongue. Something had shifted in the air around them and it sounded intimate and breathy. He watched her own tongue peek out of her mouth and wet her lips and he knew that she felt the change too. "Are you a virgin?"

Claire's face flushed a bright crimson at the question and she pulled away from him slightly, looking off to the side of his face. "I haven't really stayed in one place long enough to get close enough to anyone." she admitted, softly.

"Then I can't do this." he told her. He could feel the torrent of energy that was beginning to boil inside of him again and the moisture around them began to sizzle for a second time that night.

Claire studied him hard for a long moment before she laughed hard. Peter stared at her open mouthed, wondering if she had gone crazy.

"You really don't know how I feel about all of this? The man with the ability to read minds and you still don't know!" She had stopped laughing but she had a bright smile on her face and looked like the Claire he had been protecting all this time.

"I control my powers. I don't go around reading people's minds unless I need to." he told her defensively.

She laughed again and shook her head slightly. "Peter." She said his name with an affectionate tone he had never heard from her before and it caused a flip-flop sensation in the pit of his stomach. She brushed his long bangs out of his face, revealing a long scar. "I never said that it was just you that ignored how you were feeling and pushed me away, it was both our faults." She laughed again lightly and brushed a kiss along his jaw. "For years I have been denying my feelings for you. I thought you died that night that Nathan flew you up into the sky. You went missing for months and I was lost without you. It made me face what I was feeling but I was always afraid that you would reject me. It's time for me to be honest with you, Peter. I'm in love with you and I want this to happen."

This time when she kissed him, he responded to her kiss. With the knowledge that he wasn't alone in his forbidden attraction, it fueled a different type of fire within him that burned deep inside. Her mouth was soft and wet when his tongue entered it and she tasted innocent, reminding him that she was about to experience this for the first time. He would have to work hard to control himself because he could already feel years of pent up frustration waiting to be released. He would have to quell the urge to rip her clothes off and pound his way into her core like he wanted. He would have to show her the love he felt for her. He pulled her down onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. His hands found their way to her hips and he pulled her even closer. He let her control the kisses and waited for her to be ready for more.

Claire could feel him hard between her legs and felt an ache growing inside of her that she had never experienced. Involuntarily, she moaned softly into his open mouth and arched her back, grinding against him. She pulled away to pant softly and tilted her head back, offering her neck to him.

Peter grunted and gripped her rotating hips tightly. He felt like he was a tightly wound coil that was ready to burst and didn't know how long he would be able to hold back. Holding her lower half still, he focused on her exposed throat and slid his lips and teeth over her moist skin. Lightly he bit into her shoulder as he tried to contain himself.

She could feel how stiffly he was holding himself. His heart was pounding in his chest and he was sweating from the effort of holding back. She sighed softly and pulled away, standing up from the bed.

He groaned at the loss of her touch but watched as she pulled the shorts from her body to reveal plain white bikini briefs. She crossed her arms at her waist and pulled the tank top over her head. Her skin was bathed in soft moonlight, pink nipples jutting out from firm rounded flesh. Her stomach was flat but looked soft and womanly. She pulled the white panties down her legs and he could just make out the lightest brown patch of curls he had ever seen in his life. Seeing her like this made everything different, reminding him that she was certainly not a teenager and could make the decisions about her own life for herself. Any lingering guilt about what he was about to do dissipated as he was filled with a desire so strong that he felt like this was meant to happen.

Claire, now nude, slowly made her way back to Peter, his primal expression causing her to shiver. There was no doubt in her mind that this would probably hurt more then usual. He wasn't going to be able to hold himself back, as was evident by the once again rising temp. She slowly climbed onto the bed and pulled the sheet away from him. She blushed, unable to look down at his aroused state and kneeled before him.

Peter reached out for her and hesitated for only a moment before he trailed a fingertip up the outside of her thigh and across her hip. He smiled at her sharp intake of breath when he ran his fingers down through the soft curls at the juncture of her legs. She sucked the air through her teeth when he bypassed the spot on her that ached for his touch and continued tracing a line down the inside of her thigh this time. When his fingers reached the back of her knee, it was accompanied by his hand on the her other knee. In one swift motion she was pulled to his lap, his erection pressing hotly against her stomach.

That was when Claire looked down, and her mouth went dry. Since this was the first time she had seen a man nude she didn't have anyone to really compare him to. He looked large and thick to her and she briefly wondered how much this was going to hurt. She looked up and found him staring at her. She smiled shyly and blushed again.

Peter watched in amusement. After knowing pain so horrible most don't live to experience, he was glad that she was nervously anticipating the pain that would come when his body was joined to hers. At least she would get that small amount of normalcy that she deserved out of her first time. He rotated his hips slightly up against her, his hardened flesh rubbing against her. "Like what you see?" he teased, and trailed his mouth across her collarbone.

She moaned out his name and bit her lip. Despite wanting him so much, a small part of her was nervous that he wouldn't enjoy this as much as she would.

"You're shaking." he told her, concern showing on his handsome face. There he was, the old Peter shining back at her.

Claire suddenly smiled, her body coming to a still. With a new confidence, Claire pushed herself against him, the friction causing both of them to moan. "I'm okay. You don't have to hold back, Peter. I can take it." she whispered into his ear, nipping on the lobe.

"I have no doubt you can take it," he gave her a lopsided smile and pushed up against her. "I'm not going to be able to hold back for long, but for now let me enjoy the last of your innocence." Without waiting for an answer, Peter leaned in and took one of her hard nipples into his mouth and lavished it with his tongue.

Claire cried out and wrapped her arms around him, clinging to him. She knew that it would be intense to be with him but she had no idea how much. She felt her stomach twist and suddenly felt dizzy in her upright position. She felt him wrap his arm around her, holding her up and giving her support as he started in on the other breast. The hand that had been on her hip was suddenly sliding between the two of them.

"You are more beautiful then I imagined." He rasped out softly, his breath hot against her swollen, wet peak. His fingertip slipped into the wet folds between her legs that hid the swollen nub it seeked.

"How often did you imagine being with me." She asked breathlessly. She gasped when his finger rubbed wetly over her clit, her nails digging into his shoulders.

"More often then not," he whispered, nuzzling her breast with his face. His breathing was coming out hard and hot and he doubted he was going to be able to hold out much longer. He slid his finger to her opening and paused as he looked up into her flushed face. Her eyes were lidded with passion, loose flyaway hair sticking to the sweat along her hairline, her chest rising and falling rapidly and her bottom lip was caught between her teeth; but she had never looked more beautiful and pure then she did sitting naked above him. His breath caught in his throat when it finally sunk in that after years of denying himself of her, she was going to give herself to him in a way she couldn't give to anyone ever again. A tear slid down his cheek but she was quick to wipe it away with her thumb and pull his mouth to hers in a tender kiss.

"I didn't think I'd ever have the chance to be with you like this." Peter told her before he slanted his mouth over hers and pushed a finger deep inside of her, swallowing her moans. He made quick work of her then, stroking into her slick heat until she had relaxed and stretched enough to handle a second finger. She was panting into his mouth, nearly gasping for air, her back arching and pushing down against his hand. Suddenly he pushed himself up onto his knees and sat back on his heels and smiled lasciviously at the possition it put her in. Claire was straddled on his lap, her thighs spread out across his lap giving him more space to move his hand.

Claire thought she was going to hyperventilate if he kept it up. The world was spinning around her and she could barely keep her eyes open. She couldn't hear or feel anything but Peter. She could smell a mixture of her own arosal and something that was undenyably Peter and it was causing a warm ache to spread throughout her body that she needed relief from. "Please." she begged, but wasn't sure why she was begging let alone what she was begging for. The only thing she knew was that she needed something and Peter was the only one who could give that to her.

"Shh." He hushed her as he pressed a kiss to her temple. He turned his hand slightly and while he began to plunge two fingers into her dripping wet center, he swirled the pad of his thumb up and over her throbbing button. It was just what Claire needed to push her over the edge. She buried her face into his neck and bit him so hard that he groaned in both pain and pleasure, his hand going still inside her as she contracted around his fingers. Finally she sagged against him and he withdrew his fingers as he held onto her.

Claire fought to gain control of her breathing as her whole body tingled, feeling relaxed and pliant. When she had come down some from her high she realized that Peter was holding her, one hand on the small of her back holding her flush against him while the other had bent the tip of him down to her opening and was teasing her with his tip.

"What do we need to make this happen?" He asked. His voice was soft but strained as he struggled to hold on for just a little longer. He groaned when he felt her flex against him and broke contact with her before he lost his control.

"I'm on birth control." She told him. When he just stared at her she blushed. "What? I'm twenty-two and for at least a few more seconds I'm still a virgin. I wanted to be ready when the time came."

Peter blinked and then smiled softly at her. "Claire, this is going to hurt." He swallowed the lump in his throat and resumed his previous position, rubbing himself against her. "I'm going to push all of me inside of you at once and then I'll let you get used to it but after that I won't be able to hold back any longer."

Claire could only nod and bite her lip. They both stared at one another, at the threshold of no return and the anticipation grew inside of her. "Promise me one thing, Peter."

"I'd promise you anything right about now." He panted at her, honestly but desperate to be inside of her.

"No." She said firmly, her hands tangling in his hair. "Promise me you won't push me away anymore."

"I couldn't if I wanted to. And Claire, don't scream." With that, Peter pushed inside of her with little resistance.

Claire cried out, only catching his meaning at the last second and barely muffled herself as she bit into Peters shoulder again. She could taste the faint metalic taste and it almost seemed poetic that she made him bleed when they came together. She felt a sharp twinge of pain and then felt uncomfortably stretched and full. It was more painful then she expected but the pain was disapaiting quickly as her body adjusted to his.

"God, this almost hurts, you're painfully tight." He groaned and willed himself not to move. He felt like he was on the edge of insanity and didn't know how he was still holding back from withdrawng himself from her and plundging back inside of her like he wanted.

"I feel," she paused, trying to find the right word, "alive." she finished, smiling down at him.

"I feel like I've died and gone to heaven." he whispered, withdrawing slightly and pushing back into her just to test the waters.

Claire moaned and threw back her head. She was surprised when a shot of pleasure pulsed deep inside her and spread through her and into her stomach. She couldn't believe that this was finally happening and suddenly she was the one that couldn't wait any longer. Claire dragged herself up until just the tip of him was inside her and made eye contact with him before she pushed herself down onto him.

That's all it took before Peter grabbed her by the hips and began to thrust deeply into her. They both settled a rhythem of deep, long strokes; their mouths battling between the two of them as they took the last six years of repressed lust and frustration out on each other. Before long, their lovemaking was frenzied and wild, both frantic to release the pent up energy that was continuing to build up pressure with every touch, every sound.

She barely heard him when he spoke, unable to focus on much of anything besides the intense ball of heat that was growing inside her stomach. "You need to cum for me, baby. This feels too good and I'm not going to be able to hold back much longer." And he encouraged her, his hand sliding down between them and brushed his thumb over the engorged nerve at the top of her slit. The ball surged and expanded inside of her, her vision bluring as a radiant light blinded her and her body went rigid around him.

Peter groaned as he thrust up inside her, her body milking his so tightly that it felt like she was trying to push him out of her. With a grunt, he released inside of her, his hips flush against the insides of her thighs as he held himself as deep as possible. Unable to hold himself up anymore, he gracefully fell back onto the bed and brought her with him, still intimately joined. He could feel their combinded wetness seep out of her but he couldn't bring himself to let her go just yet. He wrapped himself around her and pressed feather light kisses to her temple.

Claire settled herself on his chest, resting her chin on him and gazing up at him in that worshipful way she used to look at him many years ago. He sighed contented when he realized that their union had done the opposite of what he had origionally thought it would do. She was the happiest he had ever seen her and it was all because he let her in.

"We should have done this a long time ago." she stated just before she yawned. She grinned at the lazy smile that spread over his features, taking years off his appearence. He had a boyish glint in his droopy eyes that melted her inside. "I love you, Peter."

"Love you, too, Claire." he responded, his voice growing distant as exaughtion took over him. He slipped out of her and tucked her into his side. That night was the first night in years that nightmares of the future didn't plague him. 


End file.
